– Asia's King of Talk

Sisters Gretchen and Claudine Barretto have not been on speaking terms because a misunderstanding, the cause of which is still unclear to many. However, it was recently reported that the two have already patched things up. But during her contract signing with ABS-CBN for a new teleserye project, all that Gretchen could say was, “Claudine is my sister. Imposibleng hindi kami magkaayos. We may have our differences but I never doubted our love for each other. I think it should end there.”

Gretchen had chosen not to speak of her sister in her interviews as a way of showing respect to Claudine. The elder Barretto had also been less vocal about her family affairs. When asked how she spent Mother’s Day, Gretchen shared, “It turned out very well I spent it with Marjorie (her other sister) and the kids. It was very good.” Gretchen evaded more personal questions by saying, “Now I’m going to sign my contract with ABS-CBN, ha ha ha!”

The actress explained that in her decision to do another teleserye which serves as a follow-up project to last year’s Magkaribal, she had the approval of her long-time partner, Tony Boy Cojuangco. “Nagpaalam naman ako kay Tony. Ang sabi niya sa akin, ‘You’re so much happier kapag may trabaho ka.’ Kapag may work daw ako I’m always laughing and smiling. This is really what I want, to be in showbiz.”

Even their daughter Dominique was very much excited about her mother’s new TV project. “Dominique is excited for me. She asked, ‘Mom is this going to be like Magkaribal?‘ I said, ‘It’s going to be much better, honey!’ Ha ha ha!”

Gretchen shared that she spent the last six months, following the end of Magkaribal, getting some rest and spending her vacation mostly abroad with her family. Now she’s very much ready for the long hours of taping for her new series tentatively entitled Alta which also stars Angelica Panganiban, KC Concepcion, Zanjoe Marudo, Luis Manzano, and Sam Milby.

To those who have long been wanting to see Gretchen on the big screen, the actress said that the movie project may have to wait probably in the latter part of this year. For now she is devoting most of her time to her teleserye. “When I do a project gusto ko ‘yun lang muna para mabigay ko ‘yung 100% ko. My schedule can’t handle anything more than a teleserye. I’ll be working long hours for three times a week so wala na akong masyadong time.”